After a broker or crypto loss, some victims are told that “lawyers” have written to the financial police. Then an email arrives from an address such as [email protected] saying the money has been found and can be released — once a commission, tax, insurance, or activation deposit is paid.
finance-police.com is an ordinary private domain, not a state portal. Austria does have a Financial Police function under the finance ministry, and its public material lives on government infrastructure such as bmf.gv.at; that office is about tax and fraud control, not mailing retail investors a crypto invoice. The United Kingdom’s fraud-reporting guidance is explicit that police and public bodies do not charge a fee to return money lost to scams. The FTC’s recovery-scam pages describe the same prepaid “refund” trick.
Treat any mailbox that mixes a police costume with a payment request as hostile. Do not send passports, card photos, or remote-access sessions. Keep the headers and attachments for reporting through Get help, and read Fake recovery before engaging another helper.
This article is for general information only. It is not legal or financial advice. Details change. If you have lost money, contact your bank or card issuer and use the routes on the help pages.